IP #227: "Battle of Seattle" / "The Day of Infamy"

November 30, 1999 the WTO ministerial was completely shut down in Seattle. Remembering that glorious period 7 years later, we bring you a music video "Didn't we? (Shut it Down)" by Seattle buskers Jim Page and Artis the Spoonman. Street footage from IMC archives depicts the "Battle In Seattle" to make this music video a powerful reminder that we did, indeed, shut it down.

One of the wonderful things that came out of the battle to shut down the WTO in Seattle was the Independent Media Center (IMC), which then grew into a world -wide network of Indymedia Centers. We next feature a short piece done by the Portland IMC, which tells you all about the IMC movement.

December 7 is the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Every year we play a video we made some years ago, which interviews a WWII veteran, who has in his possession the front page banner headline in the Pearl Harbor newspaper, one week before the so-called "sneak attack." The headline, in huge type, all across the front page of the Sunday paper reads "Japanese To Invade!" His point is that there is much evidence that President Roosevelt knew of the impending attack, and manipulated events to create support for a war that until then was not popular among the American people. The valuable US aircraft carriers were quietly sent out to sea, and the old WWI era ships, and their crews were left in port for bait. The 3,000 American dead, who went down with the US ships in Pearl Harbor were sent to their watery grave as much by their own rulers as by the Japanese attackers. It might not have been the first time the American People were lied to for the purpose of starting a war, and it certainly wasn't the last. On the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, we bring you "The Day of Infamy."

Pepperspray Productions formed shortly after the WTO protests in Seattle, in response to the Independent Media Center's call, "don't hate the media, be the media". We believe that the Corporate Media is not telling us the whole story, and that the people must make our own media if we want our voices to be heard. www.indymedia.org

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• WTO
• Pearl
• Harbor